Horses used for producing antivenom for snake bites subjected to ill treatment

Horses used for producing antivenom for snake bites subjected to ill treatment

Horses used for producing antivenom for snake bites are being subjected to callous treatment.

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Arun Ram

November 27, 2000

ISSUE DATE: November 27, 2000

UPDATED: November 27, 2012 13:38 IST

Overdose: Repeated injections of the toxic venom have blinded many horses

Vahini could not tell them that she was pregnant when they injected potent snake venom into her. Barely a month later, the mare gave birth to a young one with a suspected limb disorder. Soon after the delivery, Vahini went blind in the right eye and her left eye was partially damaged.

Vahini is a living victim of man's age-old argument that ends justify the means. At least 60 other horses have died at the state-run King Institute in Chennai in the past seven months due to improper treatment during the manufacture of anti-snake venom serum (ASVS).

ASVS is produced by first injecting snake venom into horses and then extracting their blood. The antibodies produced by the animal after the injection of the venom are used to make the serum. Not any longer though. The tragic consequences of the overdose administered to Vahini have shaken up the institute.

Neglect: Some animals at King Institute have festering wounds

Earlier this month, the Tamil Nadu Government ordered the suspension of ASVS production at the institute for two months. The veterinarian, who "did not know that Vahini was pregnant", was transferred, Director C. Chandraprabha asked to go on leave and a senior bureaucrat given temporary charge. The Crime Branch of the CID and a committee of veterinary experts are investigating the matter.

At 100, the King is ailing. And so are most of the 140-odd animals - horses and mules - housed there for experiments and production of serum. It seems that "good clinical practices" and "ethical conduct" are unknown phrases at King Institute. "The potency of the venom, the frequency of shots and duration of bleeding are all beyond the permitted limits," says an insider.

King Institute is not even registered with the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) under the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment even though it is mandatory.

The CPCSEA is naturally fuming at this flouting of norms. Says consultant Prema Veeraraghavan: "There is a total disregard for rules and ethics. The high death rate in recent months is possibly due to ill-treatment." Sources in the institute say the 140-odd animals at King Institute do not get proper care on Saturdays and Sundays because the veterinarian and the attendants are off on those days.

"There's a total disregard for rules and ethics. It is inhuman."Prema Veeraraghavan, Consultant, CPCSEA

The CPCSEA, which recently conducted an inspection of the institute stables, found the animals in pathetic conditions. Some horses had gaping wounds and the stables were not maintained properly.

"It is inhuman. When an ex-service man is given so many privileges, why isn't an animal which has served the country for so many years given a respectable life during its final years?" asks Veeraraghavan. Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Maneka Gandhi has taken serious note of the matter and is being briefed by CPCSEA consultants in Chennai.

Additional Director of Medical Education Dr V. Ramdas, who has been given charge of King Institute, is not willing to speak on the issue because of "instructions from the top". But state Health Secretary L.K. Tripathy admits that there are serious flaws in the functioning of King Institute. "We have set up a committee to suggest measures for upgrading the upkeep and immunisation protocol followed by the institute," he says.

Meanwhile, suspending the manufacture of ASVS at the institute is likely to affect the availability of the serum in the country. It produces 75,000 vials a year. Only three other institutes - Haffkine Institute and Serum Institute (both in Maharashtra) and the Central Research Institute (Himachal Pradesh) - produce the life-saving serum.

The production process takes up to six months from the time the venom is injected to when the serum is ready. So if immediate steps are not taken to clear the mess at King Institute, there may be a shortage of antivenom serum six months from now.